BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Seven goals in the second half helped LIU Brooklyn women's lacrosse to a 11-10 victory over Saint Francis U. at home on Friday afternoon.
The Blackbirds were down 6-4 at the half, but surged in the last 30 minutes to move to 3-3 in the Northeast Conference. Sophomores Jenn Peters and Mary McQueen each tallied a hat trick in the win.
The Red Flash came out strong to start the game, scoring four straight in the first eight minutes before senior Brittany Rader put the Blackbirds on the board. Neither team would find a rhythm in the next 13 minutes, with no goals scored and several turnovers, before Peters closed the gap to two with 4:30 to go after causing a turnover and picking up the ground ball.
Saint Francis would win the draw control and score its fifth of the game, but Rader kept LIU within two with 2:14 to go. McQueen moved the score to 5-4 20 seconds later, but the Red Flash would get one more goal in with a second to go to end the half.
The Red Flash struck first in the second half four minutes in, but goals from McQueen, freshman Sierra O'Connor and Peters in the next five minutes quickly tied the score at 7-7. A free position goal from Tori Shinkowitz gave LIU its first lead of the game with 17:08.
The Blackbirds continued to rack up the points, leading by as much as four with seven minutes to play. But the Red Flash attempted to fight back, going on a 3-0 run in the next two minutes. But strong defense from the Blackbirds, including two caused turnovers from sophomore Kayla Riley kept the one-goal edge through the rest of the game.
LIU led with 23 ground balls, while draw controls were even at 11. Goalkeeper Alexis Maldonado had nine saves.
Up next, LIU concludes its regular season schedule against Robert Morris on Sunday, April 26 at 11:00 a.m.